Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the tiny purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with (who doesn’t have anything to say anyway), and here to bring you the latest news from our garden, and maybe a picture or two of me being cute. You may remember me from such posts as “Still More Melting”, among at least a few others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
It was misty this morning, not really hugely misty, but still misty, which it rarely is around here, or so I’m told, and it was pretty different. I picked up an earthworm on the patio this morning, right after breakfast, but the guy I live with told me to spit it out, which I did (“for once”), because it was icky.
This is part of the garden, looking all misty (but not really misty). You can see that there are piles of gravel where there weren’t any two days ago, and you can also see some plastic covers for bulbs whose pictures need taken, and the tray of cactus that still hasn’t been leveled, though I understand it might be, soon.
The piles of gravel appeared yesterday, and I had to check them out, of course. Here I am taking a survey. Measuring stuff, you know. 
Well, today, I was wandering around the troughs, and I met someone who didn’t like me at all, which was surprising. Everyone who’s met me has liked me: the little kids in the neighborhood come down to see me when the guy I live with carries me out in front to meet people, and other dogs have liked me, but this thing didn’t like me at all. The guy I live with realized that I’d just met Earl, and of course he didn’t have his camera with him, so he went to get it, but by that time Earl had learned that there was a new King of the Garden, and it wasn’t him. Partly because he was the old one, or acted like it, but partly because he could see my fiercely gnashing teeth and determined brow. That’s his tail up there in the tree, against the big branch going off to the right, some. 
So that was that. Earl was really mad, because he could tell I would brook no nonsense at all, and that there was going to be a tough new regime here.
Then I discovered another squirrel, and chased it out of the garden. This is me triumphantly watching the squirrel leave. I’m standing on the seed frames, which I’m not supposed to do, but this was important. 
Speaking of the seed frames, the guy I live with says “Stuff is coming up”.
stuff coming up
Afterwards, I stopped to pose in front of the seed frames. This is me. Like, if you weren’t sure. 
I took a nap after that. 
We went out again a little later, after I had my lunch, and I got all interested in the moss growing in one of the troughs. I learned soon after that how much the guy I live with likes the moss there, and how protective he felt about it. He said not to eat the moss.
the moss
That’s really kind of it, for today. The day isn’t over, but there’s some stuff to do, and I guess we’re going to be doing it. Or at least thinking about doing it. I kind of like the pace of things around here.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 